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1. Introduction
1.1 Background
The Monitor Farm Programme commenced in Scotland in 2003 following a model developed in New Zealand to help farmers rapidly adapt to changes and become market focused. In the Scottish context the industry was still in recovery from the aftermath of Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001-2002 and needed assistance in recovery.
The Programme sets out to improve the performance and profitability of a commercial farm, typical of the local area, over a three year period. The concept is for one farmer to open his business to a wider community group, mainly consisting of other farmers, but also professionals such as veterinary practices, bank managers and feed specialists. The Monitor Farmer agrees to host regular group meetings at his business, where subjects are discussed in practical way, involving site tours working groups and open discussion. There are also less frequent open meetings, usually annually.
The monitor farmer is supported by a facilitator, who provides advice on objective setting, data analysis and management of meetings. The concept is that group members, together with the Facilitator and Monitor Farmer agree a range of improvements at the monitor farm, and that changes put into practice will be adopted by the wider community group of farms.
There are currently 11 Monitor Farms running in Scotland and five have completed the 3-year programme. Quality Meat Scotland ( QMS) funds nine of these, with other funding from the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise Borders, Highland Council, Dairy Co (formerly MDC), HGCA, Cairngorms National Park Authority and the Scottish Organic Producers Association ( SOPA). The facilitation for the programme is provided from a range of sources. SAC facilitate eight of the Monitor Farm Projects, with other contracted organisations delivering no more than 2 Monitor Farm projects each, or, as in the case of HGCA and Dairy Co, provide facilitation or other support as an in-kind contribution.
Terms of Reference
The Scottish Government Rural Directorate ( SG- RD) has commissioned this study to inform the future development of the Monitor Farm programme and establish indicators against which the programme may be monitored in future.
The following objectives for the study were agreed with the Scottish Government:
- To produce evidence that demonstrates the effectiveness or otherwise of Monitor Farms in delivering changes in farm practice that have led, or are likely to lead, to improvements in farm enterprise profitability and sustainability for the MF and the wider MF community group;
- To provide evidence on the potential for Monitor Farms to deliver wider benefits to the rural economy in terms of social sustainability, co-operative action and delivery of public goods and services;
- To use benchmarks or other indicators against which the future performance of Monitor Farms can be measured.
- To identify possible improvements to the programme and its monitoring."
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